Farm Credit Promotes Watson to Regional Sales & Lending Manager
Farm Credit of the Virginias (FCV), a lending cooperative that serves Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland, announced that Anthony Watson, a former loan officer in the Wytheville branch office, has been promoted to regional sales and lending manager. Watson will lead the Association’s southwest region, which includes the Roanoke, Wytheville, Abingdon, Lewisburg and Ripley branches, plus the field offices in Gate City and Floyd.
Watson is a Wythe County, Va. native and has lived in Max Meadows his whole life. He grew up on his family farm, which was primarily a dairy operation with a few head of beef cattle. He graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in dairy science. Following graduation, he returned to his family farm for a few years before becoming an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at two local high schools. Shortly after, Watson and his wife began their own beef cow/calf operation, which has grown over the years and now consists of both purebred Simmental and SimAngus cattle which are sold for seedstock, in addition to some commercial cattle. The Watsons raised their two children on the farm and both are still involved today.
Watson joined the FCV team as a loan officer in the Wytheville branch in 2014. During his tenure, he has focused primarily on commercial agriculture lending and has served members in several branches throughout FCV’s southwest region.
With regard to his new position, Watson shared, “Over the past 12 years, I have been able to meet and work with many wonderful people as a loan officer. Being a loan officer has afforded me the opportunity to see many different agriculture operations and farming practices. It also has provided the opportunity to see and be a part of many people’s dreams to own property and live the rural lifestyle. My new position is going to allow me to work with folks across a larger footprint, so I am excited to meet more of our FCV members and support our loan officers as they work to meet our members’ financial needs.”
Watson continued, “I am very passionate about agriculture and to have the opportunity to work with a company dedicated to serving agriculture and the rural lifestyle gives me a great sense of fulfillment. Each day I get to give back to an industry that has given to me my entire life and feel very blessed to be able to do that.”
Chris Frazier, chief lending officer, shared, “We are excited to announce Anthony’s promotion to regional sales and lending manager. Anthony has dedicated many years to Farm Credit, building strong relationships with our members and consistently providing exceptional service. His deep agricultural knowledge, leadership and commitment to the communities we serve have made a meaningful impact across our organization. Anthony understands the unique opportunities and challenges facing agriculture today, and he is passionate about helping our members succeed.” Frazier continued, “I am confident that in this new role, he will continue to strengthen our customer-focused culture, support our employees and help drive continued success for our Association. We congratulate Anthony on this well-deserved promotion and look forward to the positive influence he will have in his leadership role.”
Outside of work, Watson is involved in a number of organizations, including the Wythe County Farm Bureau (and serves on the board), Virginia Farm Bureau, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Virginia Cattlemen’s Association (member of Policy Committee) and the American Simmental Association. Watson is also a Class VII Fellow of the Virginia Agriculture Leaders Obtaining Results (VALOR) program, a two-year professional development program for adults in agriculture.
About Farm Credit of the Virginias
Farm Credit of the Virginias provides over $2.5 billion dollars in financing to more than 12,500 farmers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners throughout Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland. Farm Credit is a cooperative capitalized largely through investments made by farmers, ranchers and the rural homeowners and businesses that borrow from them. In fact, as part of a nationwide network they are the largest single provider of agricultural credit in the United States and have been for over 100 years. Farm Credit helps maintain and improve the quality of life in rural America and on the farm through its constant commitment to competitive lending, expert financial services and for facilitating and sharing knowledge and resources through the Farm Credit Knowledge Center.